It's Time
by miss.happy.and.lucky
Summary: Dean met God. Yes, that's right. God. In a heartbeat that changed the lives of the Winchesters and Castiel. Did they have to face another apocalypse? And, since when did God make deals?
1. Chapter 1

_AN: Just so we are on the same page, this takes place somewhere after episode 14 (Captives) from season nine. Please enjoy._

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**1: Prologue  
**

Dean was eating a sandwich in the kitchen. He had just seen Sam in the library. The nerd had been looking for some book which could take him quite some time. Dean sighed. The atmosphere in the bunker was a little bit heavy, filled with uneasiness. It was like this nowadays when there was no case. Dean had hoped that after Kevin's visit Sam would give in a little. That he would be more friendly and consider Dean a brother again. They _were_ brothers by blood, but Sam had spoken how he truly felt about that matter. Dean had seen some improvement in their relationship, so he didn't give up hope just yet. When they were on a hunt, Sam would be more invested and even take more interest in Dean. Unfortunately, as soon as they got home it was like Sam remembered why he only wanted to be partners and put distance between them again.

Dean pushed the last part of the sandwich deep into his mouth, making his cheeks puff out and went to his room to listen to some music. He didn't want to disturb Sam, but on his way he stopped by the library to get one glance at his little Sammy. God, he just wanted his brother back. For now, he had to settle with a hunter.

XXXXX

He had only been in his room for about an hour when his stomach started to growl, demanding more food. Well, you had to listen to your stomach right? Maybe there was some pie left from yesterday? Dean doubted that, not a chance he would have left anything of something that delicious. Still, the fridge was calling out to him and it was his duty to obey. So, he got up and went back to the kitchen.

When in the kitchen he saw that there was in fact no pie, but a cake though. Dean frowned, but took it anyway along with a beer. He went to check on Sammy and it looked like he had found his book.

"What are you reading?" Dean asked, mouth full of cake.

"Mythology stuff," he answered without looking up.

"Anything interesting?"

"Sure," Sam said while fully concentrated on whatever he was reading. "Hey, is there anymore beer?"

"Yeah. In the kitchen," Dean said and jerk a thumb over his shoulder.

Sam finally got his nose out of the book and went to the kitchen. Dean walked over to check out Sammy's book. As he thought, it seemed boring as hell. Then, Dean suddenly got a headache out of nowhere and it started ringing in his ears.

"What the hell?" He muttered and pressed his palm against one ear, hoping it would stop.

The sound just got louder and louder. His headache multiplied by every second.

"Sam!" Dean called out in agony and anxiety. "SAM!"

The beer slipped out of his hand and smashed to the ground into million pieces. Dean fell to his knees, covering his ears and screaming in pain.

When Sam heard Dean shouting, he quickly let go of everything and ran towards his brother. When he reached the library he saw Dean on the floor, screaming his lungs out and blood running down from his nose.

"Dean! Dean, what is it?"

His brother seemed in so much pain. Just as Sam was about to approach him, there was a sudden bright light that forced Sam to close his eyes. Then, everything was quite. Sam opened his eyes and terror filled every inch of his body when there was no sign of Dean.

"DEAN!" Sam called out in panic. "DEAN!"

How, how could this have happened? They were in the bunker for God's sake, the safest place on the planet! Sam walked around in circles, trying to find out what or who could possibly have abducted his brother in this manner. Sam had no clue what to do, he needed help.

"Cas! I know you are busy, but someone took Dean! From the bunker! He is gone Cas! Help me!"

Sam ran his fingers through his thick hair, trying to calm himself. Castiel would come, Dean meant a lot to him. Minutes seemed like hours, but soon the angel was with him.

"What happened?" Castiel asked in serious tone.

"I don't know," Sam said. "I was with him here, then went to the kitchen and then he started to scream. I checked on him, he was on the floor, obviously in pain and then there was some light. When I looked up, he was gone Cas. Gone."

Castiel looked troubled by this. His eyes were fixated on the floor and he seemed to be deep in thought.

"Well?" Sam said eagerly.

"I... I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know! You have to know! Dean is-"

"Sam! You-"

Their arguing was interrupted by another bright light that blinded both Sam and Castiel for a second. Next thing they knew, Dean was back and lying on the floor. Sam ran towards his older brother and was sitting next to him in an instant. He checked his breathing and could safely say that his brother was alive. Sam let out a sigh of relief.

"Dean..." Sam whispered with a soft smile.

Dean didn't reply. His body was limp in Sam's arms, he was shaking a bit, his face was pale and his eyes seemed empty.

"Cas! Cas! What is wrong with him?"

It was a long time ago Catiel had seen Dean in such a poor state. The worried angel quickly put his palm on Dean's forehead and after a second he relaxed his tense muscles.

"Nothing serious. He is just in shock," the angel informed Sam and then looked intensely at the older Winchester. "Dean? Dean, can you hear me? It's Castiel."

He repeated this until Dean's empty stare finally found the angel's blue eyes.

"Cas?"

"Yes, it's me Dean."

Dean looked around at his surroundings, recognizing the walls, the floor, the shelves filled with books... It was the library. He was in the bunker.

"Sam," Dean said stunned when he noticed his brother holding him so tightly.

"Sorry," Sam answered awkwardly and gently let go of his brother.

Dean sat up and put his fingers to his temples.

"Man, I got the headache of the century."

"Stay down. I will get you something, okey?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Dean gave his younger brother a gentle smile of gratitude. Sam left the room and Castiel couldn't resist asking.

"Dean, you have to tell me what happened. Sam said there was some light, we could be dealing with something very powerful. Tell me everything you remember, every single detail can be of importance."

"Right now? Cas, give me a break. I need a pill first."

"Dean," the angel said almost in a harsh voice.

The older Winchester looked at Castiel nervously and pulled his hands through his hair while taking a deep breath.

"What happened, Dean?" Castiel's voice was a little softer this time, after seeing the reaction from the other on this topic.

There was a short silence where the hunter could build up his courage.

"I-I think I met him, Cas..." Dean managed to breathe out.

Castiel waited for him to continue. Dean ran a hand down his face, closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. He then looked the angel straight in the eyes and opened his mouth, but didn't seem to find the right words. This was going on Castiel's nerves.

"Who, Dean? Who did you meet?"

It was just one answer. One word. Yet, it seemed like with that word, the world came crashing down on them.

"God," Dean whispered.

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_AN: __Do you want to see more? __Tell me your thoughts and hopefully see you soon!  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Thanks everyone for all the support and thank you Guest, haimavati and roy23 for your wonderful reviews._

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**2: Blast From The Past  
**

Sam returned to the room with a glass of water and a pill for headache which he gave to his brother. Dean nodded to him in thanks, put the pill in his mouth, took a big gulp of water and swallowed.

"Feeling better?" Sam asked his brother.

"Dean just told me that he met God," Castiel interrupted while looking at Sam intensely and raising one eyebrow.

They stayed quite for a second.

"Well..." Sam said calmly. "That's..."

"I'm not lying," Dean moaned, disturbed by how they treated him.

Sam and Castiel exchanged worried glances, before they faced Dean again. They had to handle this delicately.

"Of course you aren't..." Sam started with a soft smile.

"I'm not fucking crazy! Stop looking at me like I'm some sort of freak, I told you what happened!"

Castiel sighed and Sam scratched his head.

"Okey Dean, but let's look at this logically. I mean, God? Really? We have been doing this for years. Some creature obviously played with your head. It has happened to us before and it's nothing to be ashamed of. It happens."

"I know," Dean said while feeling a bit irritated. "I thought about it too, but... This really felt different. Real."

"It always does," Castiel comforted.

Dean met their eyes and nodded. He felt a bit dumb now.

"I guess you're right. Sorry."

The older Winchester stood up and stretched his muscles by putting his arms in the air, high above his head. Sam's eyes narrowed when he noticed something familiar around his brother's neck. Truth was that he didn't want to ask about it and show that he cared, but he just couldn't help himself.

"So when did you take_ that_ back?" He muttered nonchalantly, remembering how Dean had lost it.

"What?" Dean asked confused.

"The necklace, I haven't seen you wearing it for ages."

Dean looked down and saw that Sam was right. There, hanging on top of his green T-shirt was the necklace Sam had given to him as a kid. Dean looked at Sam in horror. His mind was rushing in million miles per hour.

"I trew it away," He said in a weak voice.

"I know. I _remember_," Sam answered behind gritted teeth.

"No, Sam. I never returned for it."

Dean let the words sink in. Soon Sam's eyes widened and were filled with horror too. He pointed at the necklace and his mouth hanged open in shock. Castiel put his fingers to his lips while he started to put the pieces together.

"I tried to use that necklace to find God, but it didn't work."

"It was supposed to be some sort of God EMF," Sam breathed in disbelief. "Oh my God... Dean, maybe it's true?"

Dean felt like he was going to have an anxiety attack and had to sit down again. He grabbed the nearest chair, sat down on the edge of the seat, rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands.

"This is unbelievable," Sam whispered. "We can't be sure, but let's say it's true. What did he say?"

Sam and Castiel looked curiously at Dean. He adjusted his sitting position so he would sit more comfortably and sighed.

"It's not like he talked. It's... Hard to explain. When you are in his presence you just sort of understand what he wants and thinks. And it's the same thing when it comes to you. He knows. And you don't really see him either, you just know. You know?"

Sam raised his eyebrows and his mouth became a straight line while Castiel didn't move a muscle.

"Well, that-" Sam started and didn't want to sound rude.

"Makes perfect sense," Castiel interrupted.

Sam grimaced and stared at Cas, trying to find out if the angel was actually serious.

"I was going for something a little bit different, but sure Cas."

Castiel sighed and rolled his eyes.

"That sounds like a perfect description of God. It is very similar to what angels have been told," he said as if it was obvious.

"Fine," Sam spat before he turned to Dean again. "What did he want then?"

Dean scratched his neck, looked up at the ceiling and his cheeks seemed to get a little red.

"I... It's all a blur right now," he said quietly.

Sam closed his eyes and tried to keep his breathing steady. Dean couldn't be serious about this.

"You talked to God and don't remember what he said? Wow, Dean. Just wow. That has to top everything," Sam mocked.

"Shut up!" Dean shouted, trying to hide his embarrassment behind anger. "It was a lot of stuff!"

Sam was just about to say something back when the angel stepped between them.

"I'm sure it's very overwhelming, give him time Sam." Castiel said while trying to calm them down.

Sam rolled his eyes, turned his back to the other two and put his hands in his pockets. This was when a thought hit him.

"Why would he talk to you?" He asked and faced them again. "No offense Dean, but... Why?"

"He must be pretty confused if you ask me," Dean laughed and Sam soon joined him.

"Stop," Castiel said and didn't like that the brothers took this so lightly. "Humans have been God's favorite creation, so it's no wonder he finally decided to make contact with one. Dean represents a human's weaknesses and strengths. He sins in many different ways, yet he has such a big heart and puts other's safety and well being above himself. The righteous man. When you think about it, it's rather beautiful."

"Wow. Don't get a boner there Cas," Dean commented.

Castiel glared angrily at Dean. The Winchester put his hands up in the air in defeat. If he pissed of Castiel anymore, they would soon be in a fight.

"This is no joke Dean, if this is true we have to decide what to do about it."

That was true. No matter how you thought about it, it was a serious matter. The trio went into deep thinking. Dean began to play with the amulet from his necklace with his fingers, it helped him think when he was younger. Surprisengly, he felt how the amulet got warm under his touch. The necklace got hotter and hotter.

"I remember," Dean whispered in surprise. "The necklace makes me remember. I think..."

Sam and Cas took a few steps closer to him.

"What is God's plan Dean?" Castiel asked eagerly.

"He..." Dean twisted the amulet between his fingers, trying to concentrate. It felt like it was burning under his fingers. "I think... I think he wants it all to end."

Sam took a nervous breath.

"Fuck that," Dean said and let go of the amulet. "We didn't stop the apocalypse just so the man upstairs could start a new one."

He was just about to take off the stupid thing from his neck when a firm grip on his arm stopped him.

"No, Dean. If the necklace has a connection to God we can't risk it falling into the wrong hands. Not to mention that God wants you to have it. Don't take it off."

Dean grunted.

"Fuck that. I'm not God's bitch. I'm not wearing it for him."

"Dean," Castiel raised his voice a bit, but didn't sound mean. "Until we find out more."

It seemed like the blue eyes were almost piercing through the green ones. After a while, Dean brushed the angel's hand off him.

"Fine," Dean said bitterly. "Only because _you_ asked. And I kind of missed the damn thing."

"Thank you," Castiel nodded to Dean and a small smirk found its way on the angel's lips.

Dean didn't mention the irony that one time Castiel had asked Dean to give him the necklace and now he begged him to keep it. Truth was, he kind of wanted it. He had gotten it from Sammy after all. He did not like that God had made his necklace some sort of connection device, but it was still his.

"So what now?" Sam asked and looked at his two friends.

"I don't know," Dean sighed. "But I'm going out. I really need to clear my head from all this bullshit."

"I need to return to my business too, if that's all right. But we will keep in touch," Castiel said and after the sound of flapping wings, he was gone.

"Have a safe trip honey," Dean murmured sarcastically after the angel.

Then Dean went to his room. He grabbed his wallet, keys, leather jacket and was soon out of the bunker. Sam on the other hand, didn't really know what to do with himself. Normally, in this situation, he would be the one to do the research. But, what could he do? Look into the Bible? Google 'God'? It was laughable. Even the angels didn't know that much about him. Maybe Sam should go out for a bit too...

XXXXX

Dean had driven around town, just because it helped him relax. Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, foot on the gas pedal and no business about God. After driving in circles for about 40 minutes, he decided to stop and visit a bar called 'Tommy's'. It was not a big bar. The place was dark and the wooden furniture were old and used. There was not much for decoration either, just some meaningless paintings on the walls that really didn't fit in.

Dean ordered a beer and drank it almost instantly. It felt like the cold liquid washed all of his problems away. After seeing Dean's upset face expression, the bartender gave him a new bottle before Dean had the chance to order. Dean nodded in thanks and took his sweet time with that one, he really didn't need to get drunk today. No matter what he tried to occupy his mind with, his thoughts went back to his necklace and the whole God-thing. He ruffed his hair in anger, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Then he noticed a group of five men staring at him.

'Man, this isn't a gay bar is it?' Dean thought in objection.

The men didn't seem to have any romantic interest in Dean, he was extremely happy about that. He couldn't stand dealing with stuff like that today. He was mentally exhausted. The men whispered something to each other and nodded. Then they started to walk towards him. Their eyes turned black and confident smiles covered their faces. Now Dean really wished that they were gay.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," he whined in defeat.

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_AN: Thank you for reading. Please, tell me your thoughts!_


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: Thank you small-reynard and haimavati for your great reviews._

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**3: Gone**

Dean's stomach twisted and he swallowed hard when he saw the demons getting closer to him. He wouldn't let that show of course, Dean glowed with nothing but confidence. People could see that something bad was about to go down so they began to clear out of the bar. The bartender seemed to recognize the five men as well because he quickly disappeared behind a staff door. The demons were all big, muscular and had somewhat matching clothes. Dean's guess was that the demons had taken the bodies of some gang. The first one had a white beard, second was bald, third had a big tattoo around his right eye, forth had long blond hair and the last one had no teeth. When they were in front of him, Dean nodded to them with a smile on his face.

"Can I help you gentlemen with anything?" He asked with a bitterly sweet voice.

"You're Dean Winchester," The one with a long white beard said while spitting out a toothpick from his mouth.

"And you are... Santa Claus?"

His bald friend grabbed Dean's jacket, lifted him up in the air and slammed him against the nearest wall. It didn't hurt that much, but Dean was caught by surprise. The bald man didn't lose his grip and had Dean hanging against the wall, feet not touching the ground.

"Okey, calm down. We can solve this real easy," Dean said irritated. "Who are you working for? The bitch or the douche?"

Their eyes narrowed in confusion. Dean fought against the urge to roll his eyes. Stupid fucking demons...

"We work for the King!" The one with a skull tattoo around his eye exclaimed proudly.

"Crowley it is," Dean said and felt relief wash over him. "And as you should know, at the moment Crowley and I are... Partners, colleagues, allies or whatever you want to call it. So you should PUT ME DOWN."

Dean pushed the bald demon that was holding him, forcing him to take a few steps back and let go of Dean. He then neatened his clothes and pouted with his lower lip when he saw that his jacket had gotten wrinkly from the bald demon's grip. He thought that was all he was going to see from the demons until he felt a strike to his cheekbone, knocking him to the ground.

"Son of a bitch! Didn't you hear what I just said, you fucking idiot!" Dean screamed in anger to his attacker, which this time was the demon that had no teeth.

"The King doesn't work with Winchesters!" he shouted self-assured.

"You stupid-"

Dean didn't have time finish his sentence because another fist from his attacker was on its way to him so he quickly had to roll out of the way. The bald demon gripped Dean's arm tightly, pulled him up from the floor and drew him into punching range. Before he had the time to strike, Dean grabbed the demon by the neck, pulled him even closer and hit him in the groin with his knee. That made the demon let go and moan in pain. However, Dean's success was short-lived when the demon with the beard jumped on him from behind and locked Dean's arms behind his back. Now the blond demon began to use Dean as a punching bag. He got in three good punches in the stomach which took the breath out of Dean. The Winchester then jerked his head back and broke the nose of the demon that was holding him. When his arms were free Dean got in two good punches on the blond demon.

No matter how good of a fighter Dean was, five were still five and the odds were against his favor. So when two of the demons got the chance to secure one arm each, the rest didn't matter. Dean got himself a really good punch in the face. His lip split open, leaving him with a metallic taste in his mouth and Dean also thought that he had managed to bit his tung.  
In other words, this really didn't look good. Dean had no weapons and was now being beaten up. If he didn't come up with something soon, he would surely be dead.

"Stop, wait!" Dean shouted, but they didn't listen and he got a hit in the ribs. "Let me... call him!"

The demon with the beard stopped an attack midway.

"Let me... call... Crowley," Dean said between heavy breaths.

"How do we know it's no trick?" The bald one said and looked at him suspiciously. "You could call someone else for all we know."

"You can dial and have it on speakerphone... Look, I'm helping him getting rid of Abbadon. Know, that if you kill me... Crowley will be pissed. Do you like to see him pissed? Because I don't."

They looked at each other and started to discuss this matter. They weren't keen on helping Dean, but the thought of pissing of their King didn't really suit them either. After a few minutes they finally agreed with each other.

"Fine, but if you are lying we will hang up and slaughter you on the spot." The demon glared at him. "Very _painfully_."

"Great, so give me my phone and-"

"_We_ make the call, remember?"

"Alright, it's in my-"

The demon was already searching for the phone in the pocket of Dean's jeans. Dean really had to hold back to not spit out a sarcastic comment about how uncomfortable that made him.

"Alright, his number?" The demon asked when he found the phone.

"He is in my contact list."

The demon scrolled for quite some time.

"I can't find him..."

"Yeah, he is..." Dean said with a hoarse voice. He cleared his throat. How could he go about this and not make it awkward? "He is under the name Dick."

Apparently that was not a fitting name for the King of Hell and his dear followers did not appreciate it. Dean got a kick in the stomach for that.

"Just... call him," Dean whispered angrily. How much longer did he have to deal with this?

The demon dialed and turned on speakerphone. After a few signals, there was finally an answer.

_"What do you want squirrel?"_ A familiar British voice on the other end of the line said.

"Crowley," Dean said and was for the first time in his life relieved to hear the bastard's voice. "I'm in a bit of a situation here and your friends won't let me go, so I will need you to come here and tell them to BACK OFF."

_"Well, well... A damsel in distress, are we?"_

"I swear, I will fucking-"

_"Calm down honey, only making jokes. Where are you?"_

Dean told him the location and thankfully he didn't have to wait long before the British demon appeared before them in the bar. The five demons were really shocked about this. Maybe Crowley did have some business with the Winchesters, but they definitely didn't expect him to come in person for a rescue.

"King," they exclaimed.

"Let the poor boy go, get out of my sight and I will deal with you worthless worms later," he said with venom in his voice.

Their eyes slightly widened in horror, they quickly let go of Dean and left the place. Dean rolled his stiff shoulders and brushed of some dirt from his clothes. Crowley took a few steps closer to him and eyed him from head to toe.

"They got you real good," he smirked.

"Shut up," Dean spit back. "Found the blade yet?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

Crowley took a seat at the counter in the bar. He found a bottle and purred himself a glass of whiskey. He gestured at the bottle asking Dean if wanted some, but the Winchester shook his head. Crowley took a sip from his glass and wrinkled his nose at the taste. Not the luxuries he was used to, Dean guessed.

"The blade seems to have been moved around over the years, but I'm doing my best to find it."

"Apperently not because then you would already have it," Dean commented.

Crowley rolled his eyes.

"We both want Abbadon. I am sorry my men roughed you up a bit, but cheer up would you?"

Dean sighed in irritation.

"And how is the mark working for you?"

Dean cast him an annoyed glance.

"Perfectly fine," He answered behind gritted teeth while he rolled up his sleeve to look at his mark. "It is... Gone?"

"What?"

That was weird. The Mark of Cain was not on his arm. Dean rolled up his sleeve even further up then usually, but the mark was not there. He was sure it was on his right arm... Just to be on the safe side he checked his left arm as well, but it wasn't there. What the-?

"That's odd..." Dean whispered, more to himself than to Crowley.

"What is? And what about the mark?"

Dean scratched the back of his head while staring out in the wind, really confused.

"I... seem to have lost it." He said and could not believe his own words.

Crowley raised his eyebrows and his eyes widened in disbelief. He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say and shook his head.

"Lost it?" Crowley said when he found his ability to speak again. He let out a sarcastic laugh before rage took control over him. "LOST it? How the fuck do you lose something that's _engraved_ to your bloody arm!"

Dean shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe it washed off in the shower?" He joked lightly.

Crowley stared at Dean, he couldn't believe the Winchester's arrogance. His eyes filled with hatred and he clenched his fists together.

"You are funny Dean and I don't know what trick you used to get rid of the mark, but I don't like being played." His voice was quite, threatening.

"You think I did this?" Dean shouted angrily. Nothing was going his way today. "I want to kill the bitch as much as you do!"

"Watch the tone. You are forgetting that without the mark, you are useless to me. You have no weapon to defend yourself with. And, unfortunately for you, we don't share a great past, sweetheart."

With a swing of his hand, Crowley sent Dean flying across the bar and pinned him up against a wall. Dean groaned in pain and opened his eyes to see Crowley coming closer to him with a satisfied expression on his face.

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_AN: Thank you for reading, please leave a review :)  
_


	4. Chapter 4

**4: Deal**

Sam had decided to go out. The bunker only seemed to suffocate him, now that he was so helpless. So many books, researches, yet nothing he could read or use to sort out this mess. All the things they had in the library and nothing to aid them, he just couldn't stay there any longer. Dean had taken the Impala so Sam had to do the old fashioned thing, go out for a walk.

He didn't really care where he was heading and just let his feet guide him. He walked straight and only when the path split, he turned. Some fresh air was what he really needed and 'Clear his head from all this bullshit', like Dean had said earlier. Sam sighed. Dean... He didn't know what to think about all this. Had Dean really met God? It was frightening. If so, was he watching right now?

Sam remembered seeing a bench just a second ago, so he turned around and decided to sit down. He took a deep breath. If this was true, Dean would need help. Castiel would be there for him, but how much of him would _really_ be there? Dean meant the world to Cas, figuratively, but when God came into the picture... Sam wasn't sure. When they first met Cas, he had been a blind, fateful, loyal soldier of God. Not to mention that he was naive. Sure he had changed over time, but Castiel would always be innocent at heart. If God would ask something of Castiel, Sam wasn't sure if Cas could say no.

What about Sam himself then? He had to be there for Dean, he _would_ be, but... How much of him would be with Dean? Sam was still angry at him for making wrong and selfish choices. They had decided to work as partners and hunters. If this was another apocalypse thing, Sam would help Dean without a question. But, what if Dean didn't need a hunter right now? What if Dean, right now, needed a brother? This had to worry Dean a lot, Sam was sure of it. Could Sam do it then? Could he go back to being brothers? It didn't feel like it and Sam hated that fact.

He punched the bench in frustration with his fist and stood up rapidly. He started to walk away and this time, tried not to think about this problem. He advanced forward, felt the wind playing with his hair and the sun warming his back. The only sound was his feet coming in contact with the gravel on the road. Actually there were three sounds, exactly like that. Sam turned his head and saw out of the corner of his eyes two people walking behind him. When had they appeared? Sam knew he probably was too suspicious, but the hunter inside of him wouldn't let anything slide.

He turned right the next chance he got and the two strangers followed. Sam picked up his speed a bit and so did they. Right, enemies then. Demons, probably. Sam started to run and as he expected, his followers were right behind him. He was a bit puzzled with what he should do next. He didn't have any weapons, but he couldn't just let them go either. He couldn't run home to the bunker because then he would expose their hiding place. It was daylight and a rather open area so it would be hard to outrun them or hide. He had to fight, there were two of them, Sam could handle two demons.

When he felt the demons getting closer to him, Sam picked up a big branch from the grass, turned around and ran right into them. There was a moment of surprise that the hunter had suddenly stopped and turned around to face the other two. This gave Sam the opportunity to give one blow to the head on one of the demons. The demon had the body of a young man with black jeans and a grey T-shirt. He stumbled a few steps backwards after the hit and fell to the ground. The other demon, a young woman was wearing jeans, a white top and a jean jacket. She swung a kick to Sam's head. He dodged right in time and blocked the kick with his branch.

The branch broke in half, leaving him with two pieces of wood. One with a really sharp edge. He kept that one and trew away the other. What Sam hadn't noticed was that the male demon had already gotten up on his feet and he kicked Sam in the stomach making the hunter grunt and take a few steps back. Both of them, the woman and the man, were athletic and Sam guessed that the demons had taken the bodies of some sportsmen.

"We know you are after it! Give it to us!" The woman shouted angrily.

The blade, Sam realized. They were after the blade. This must be Abbadon's men then. How did she know that Sam and Dean were looking for the blade? Did she think they already had it or was she just taking precaution? Either way, this didn't make the task of getting rid of Abbadon any easier. Sam knew that what he was about to do would piss the demons off, but he did it anyway. He started on an exorcism, it was the only way to take them out right now.

"_Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica._" The demons realized what Sam was up to and rage mixed with fear crossed over their faces as they flung themselves at the hunter. Sam stabbed the male demon in the leg with what remained from his branch, very deeply, to slow him down. He then faced the woman and kicked her in the ribs. "_Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te. Cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare._"

The exorcism slowly drained their powers, but they did not give up. They never gave up. The women tried to strike Sam three times, he dodged the first two, but the third hit him at the jaw and he fell on one knee from the impact. He swept one leg across the ground, knocking the demon off her feet.

"_Vade, Satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae, hostis humanae salutis. Humiliare sub potenti manu dei, contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine, quem inferi tremunt._"

She grimaced and let out complaining noises before she jumped on Sam. She sat on top of him and her hands tightened in a firm grip around his neck. He had trouble breathing, but desperately continued in a hoarse voice.

"_Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine._" He grabbed her clothes and tossed her over his head. She did a loop and fell on her back with a grunt. Sam inhaled for more air. "_Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica._"

The male had gotten the piece of wood out of his leg. Both demons covered their ears and screamed in complaint. The exorcism was really weakening them at this point. Sam raised his voice.

"_Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te._" The male demon was quick, he ran up to Sam and stabbed him with the same piece of wood in the shoulder. Sam let out a cry of pain. He punched the male right in the face, breaking his nose and making blood pour down. "_Cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare. Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire te rogamus, audi nos!_"

The two screamed as black smoke purred out of their mouths and disappeared. Then the bodies of the two individuals were lying unconscious on the ground. Sam grabbed the piece of wood that was still in his shoulder and felt how the pain spread itself to the arm. He took it out quickly and howled in pain. He checked on the man and the woman. They were alive and didn't seem to be in any grave danger, he called for an ambulance for the pair while he himself quickly made his way back to the bunker.

XXXXX

"Enjoying this?" Crowley asked and tilted his head to one side.

"Crowley, you son of a bitch. I swear-" Dean started.

The King of Hell waved his hand twice, Dean's body smashed hard against the floor and then back at the wall again. Dean closed his eyes and clenched his teeth together to not let out any sound of pain. Why was this happening to him?

"I want her dead," Dean growled. "I want you dead too, but Abbadon comes first. Why would I-"

Crowley grabbed the bottle of whiskey he had been drinking from earlier and smashed it against the counter. The glass broke into pieces and the golden brown liquid spilled all over, even staining the British demon's clothes. Crowley was left with a deadly weapon in his hand, he held the top of the bottle and the other end was sharp edged glass.

"This was some bad alcohol," he said while looking down at the broken bottle.

He walked slowly over to Dean. The hunter swallowed and watched the demon's every move.

"But then again, I tend to be so picky. Why don't you have a taste?"

Crowley bored the sharp end into Dean's leg. The Winchester howled in pain, but then bit his lip because he didn't want to give the demon that satisfaction. He bit a hole in his lip, but didn't feel it. The pain in his leg was too dominating. He looked Crowley in the eyes and the other gave him a slug smile, promising that this was only the beginning. Then Dean heard the wonderful sound of flapping wings which made him smile while Crowley gritted his teeth.

Then they saw who had arrived. Both's expressions changed into a confused grimace. It was clearly an angel, but not Castiel. The male had very short brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing a grey suit. The King of Hell looked at Dean.

"New boyfriend?" Crowley teased.

Dean glared at the demon before turning his gaze to the visitor.

"Who the hell are you?"

"A friend. Castiel sent me to watch over you. He said you might have something of value that would need protection. I see that his concerns were accurate."

Dean felt like a little child who had picked a fight with someone much older and was now being scolded by a parent. He could take care of himself. Well, right now was maybe not the perfect example of it, but still.

"I'm fine," he mumbled embarrassed.

"What is the new valuable thing you have?" Crowley watched Dean closely, trying to figure him out. "Traded it for the mark? Because then I think it's half mine."

"Let go of Dean Winchester," the angel said coldly.

Crowley was very powerful, but not stupid. He knew you had to be careful with angels. Unwillingly, he let go of Dean and backed away two steps.

"Get out of here," the angel told Dean.

The hunter didn't like being told what to do, especially not by dicks with wings. He had enough of that in the past. Right now, he didn't have much of a choice. He had no weapon and not to mention that he had been beaten up and was in no condition of fighting. Dean took out the pieces of glass in his leg and moaned quietly in pain. Then the Winchester swallowed his pride and nodded a 'thank you' to the angel and left the bar as fast as he could. Leaving the demon and the angel inside. He got into his baby and drove away quickly.

XXXXX

Dean stumbled into the bunker and halted a little because of his injured leg. Man, his whole body felt like crap. When he reached the library, he saw Sam sitting in a chair, with a towel all covered in blood that he pressed against his left shoulder. Sam's clothes were very dirty, there were grass stains and even blood stains on them. He also had a big bruise on his jaw. This was the worst part of their job, being hunters. Dean had to, so very often, see his Sammy hurt. He hurried to him.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Dean asked with a worried voice and wanted to see the wound, but Sam jerked away.

"Demons, I took care of it." He whispered and you could detect exhaustion in his voice.

Sam then looked more closely at Dean and saw that his brother looked no better himself. He had several wounds, especially the nasty one on his leg. It looked like Dean had been in a rather big fight himself.

"What about you?" He nodded to Dean.

"No, I'm fine." Dean waved away the question with his hand. "But we should do something about your shoulder. I will call Cas."

Before Sam could say anything, Dean left the library as quickly as his leg would allow him. Sam sighed. So both of them had gotten beaten up, was this a good day or what? Dean came back in no time with their angel right behind him. Castiel shook his head when he saw Sam.

"You two need to be more careful," Cas said with a worried voice.

Then he placed two fingers on Sam's forehead and in a second Sam was as good as new. He then walked over to Dean and did the same thing to him. Castiel's healing powers never ceased to amaze them.

"This feels much better," Dean said and made one jump to try his leg.

"Glad I could be of help," Castiel said in his usual deep voice.

"About that," Dean said and pointed at the angel. "Thank you for your minions Cas, but you need to tell them to back off."

Castiel raised his eyebrows.

"But, Dean-"

"I know, it saved my ass. But, Cas... I was just distracted. Normally I would recognize them as soon as I stepped into the bar." Castiel was about to say something, but Dean put his hand up to stop him. "Listen, I just know that I can't have this necklace that has a connection to God, demons hunting me AND angels watching my every move. I need some space."

Dean looked almost pleadingly at Casitel. After a short silence, Cas nodded.

"I understand."

Dean smiled, but then he remembered something that made his smile vanish the same instant.

"By the way. I thought you should know-" Dean said while dramatically gesturing with his hands. "God stole my Mark of Cain!"

"What?" Sam rubbed his eyes. He was so tired of all this shit.

"Yep. It's gone. He stole it. Must have. The frickin' bastard stole it!"

"It makes sense," Casitel murmured and tried to ignore the glares from Sam and Dean. "It must have happened right before you met with him. The mark is evil, Dean. You could not meet God with the mark on you."

Dean cast Sam a sarcastic glance and let out a huff of frustration.

"Well, how very considerate of him. How about his ten commandments, no stealing!"

Sam rolled his eyes and Castiel seemed... aggravated?

"Why you would withhold such important information from me that you even had such a thing is beyond my understanding."

Castiel was hurt. He didn't even look at the Winchester. What could Dean say? He knew Cas wouldn't like that he had the mark and would only worry too much, so he decided not to tell. Well, now it didn't matter anyway since it was gone. Dean sighed.

"What do we do about Abbadon now?" Sam asked in a tired voice. Rather then having this quarrel, they should come up with a plan on what to do next. "I can tell you that the bitch knows we are after her."

"Yeah. And Crowley doesn't seem to be an ally anymore," Dean added and ruffed his hair. "This whole thing is a mess."

The trio stayed silent.

"What about God?" Castiel asked carefully.

"Yeah, have you heard anything?" Sam added.

Dean stared at them.

"God? God has nothing to say in this," Dean said and grabbed his necklace in anger. "If anything, I want compensation for my mark!"

Dean looked angrily at his necklace, it was the reason to all these complications. Once again the amulet burned hot under his touch. Dean frowned and his forehead wrinkled. He opened his mouth in disbelief and let the necklace slip away from his grasp, only to land on his chest again.

"What is it?" Sam asked and didn't know if he actually wanted to hear the answer.

Dean had to blink a few times before saying anything, as if to see if this was really true.

"He wants to make a deal," he said.

"What kind?" Castiel asked.

Dean looked up at Sam and Cas.

"To help us rescue Adam from the Cage."

* * *

_AN: May not seem like it, but this was a long chapter you guys :) Thank you for reading and any feedback is welcomed!  
_


	5. Chapter 5

**5: A Way In**

What had just been said echoed in their minds. They had once found a family member they never knew the existence of, a brother. Even though the time they spent together wasn't long, he also became a friend. Then, he was taken, lost and unfortunately slightly forgotten as well. Not because they didn't care, but because they didn't think they could do anything to help him. It was easier to just let the memory slip away. Now it had emerged to the surface again, and it brought a lot of feelings with it.

Sam was the first to break the silence.

"Rescue... Adam?" He said while staring into nothing.

"Yeah..." Dean breathed out.

Adam Milligan, a nice blond guy that was a student of the University of Wisconsin. Life seemed pretty promising. Well maybe it would have, but Adam was half-Winchester and that brought its own curses with it. As expected, Adam's life was turned upside down. He and his mom were killed by ghouls and then he got resurrected only to be a piece of the angel's schemes. In the end, he was used and then trapped in the Cage for eternal torture with Michael and Lucifer.

"Wow, I don't really know what to-" Sam cut himself off, buried his face in his hands and took a deep breath. "What's the other end of this... deal?"

Dean wet his lip before he spoke.

"He wants me to deliver something."

Sam didn't expect that. He looked at Dean's necklace and then back at his brother again.

"Deliver what?"

"Wouldn't say, so I don't know."

Sam rolled his eyes.

"Alright, but to who then?"

Dean closed his tired eyes.

"I don't know," he said in a hollow voice.

Sam ran a hand through his hair and let out an irritated growl. Dean's eyes narrowed. He cleared his throat, looked at the floor and then up at Sam.

"Sam-"

"I know," Sam cut him off sharply.

Dean didn't need to say anything. Sam just needed one look from his brother to know what he was thinking. Whatever the other end of the deal was, they had to do this. This was Adam they were talking about. They had to at least try and then deal with the consequences later.

"How do we do it?" Sam simply asked.

"We need to find a way to get into Hell, find the Cage and then the necklace will take Adam out."

Sam snorted. It sounded so easy when Dean said it. It was laughable. Sam scratched his neck with a sad smile on his face.

"This is a suicide mission and you know it. Going to Hell when we are both on Crowley's and Abbadon's wanted list... Not the mention that we will be on their territory. This is nuts."

Dean sighed. Sam was right without a doubt. But... Dean got once a choice, to rescue Sam or Adam from the Cage. Obviously he chose Sam and he never regretted that decision, but that didn't change the fact that he still felt guilty about not being able to rescue Adam. It was like he had abandoned him. Now they had a chance to change that. He had to do it. No matter the cost.

Dean opened his mouth, but Sam was first to speak.

"I know, I know, Dean." It was like he could read his older brother's mind. "I'm all for it, I just don't know _how_ we are going to do it. I mean, okey, say we get into Hell. How do we find the Cage?"

Dean closed his mouth again, he honestly had no clue to Sam's question.

Castiel, who had just been standing quietly the whole time had been in some sort of trans and thinking things through. He cleared his throat, gaining the Winchesters attention.

"You will not simply _find_ the Cage," He said in a serious tone. "It is said to be at the absolute bottom, hidden deep in the worst part of Hell. Even demons don't know where it is. Having you two stroll around in Hell with Crowley and Abbadon looking for you will surely not end well."

Sam put his hands up in the air in defeat.

"Well, what do we do then?" He asked angrily. "Has God any perfect plan on how we do this?"

Dean grabbed the amulet from his necklace again. It burned hot, but something was different. He knew it right away. Dean closed his eyes and tried to concentrate more. It was like trying to open a locked door. His head hurt, he got a horrible headache and he felt weak. His legs failed him and he was about to fall down when Castiel caught him in the process.

"Thanks man," he told the angel.

"You got a nosebleed," Sam said with a mix of worry and confusion in his voice.

Dean swept the back of his hand under his nose and saw that it was in fact covered in the familiar red liquid.

"Seems I can't do the necklace thing too often," he smiled lightly.

Sam shook his head.

"Well, we just have to figure this one out by ourselves. Let's sit down and think it through."

"We will need a lot of beer for that. Cas, could you get some?"

Castiel glared at Dean.

"I don't understand why you would need alcohol for this. Humans tend to be less focused when intoxicated."

"Not us. It will _really_ help us. And I just got this huge nosebleed, so I would really appreciate if you could fly away like the angel you are and get some of that precious beer. Pretty please?" Dean teased in a sarcastic yet sweet voice, put his palms together pleadingly and pouted with his lower lip.

Castiel rolled his eyes and was gone after the sound of flapping wings. Dean did a fist bump when the angel was gone and Sam only sighed.

XXXXX

The three of them sat around one table in the library. Castiel sat straight with his back hunched forward a little, a sign that he was tired. Sam rested his elbows on the table and Dean had his feet kicked up against Castiel's armchair. All of them took big gulps from the bottles in their hands.

"So..." Dean started and put down his beer for a moment. "We can start with Hell. The nerd should do this. Go, Sam."

Sam glared at him and sighed. He was the thinker between the two of them.

"Well... We can't go through the Devil Gates because at the same time that lets a ton of shit out here... We could find one of those rogue reapers and ask them to take us. Like when I was doing the trials and went to get Bobby's soul from Hell. That could work. The reapers always ask for a price, but I don't really see another way."

The trials, Sam, Gadreel, not brothers anymore... Dean tried not to remember that right now and pretended like the memory didn't affect him. His and Sam's problem could be dealt with later. Right now it was about Adam. So Dean simply nodded.

"Fair enough," he said. "How do we find the Cage?"

This was the tricky part. Sam bit his lip as he thought.

"What do we know about the Cage?" Sam said aloud more to himself then to the other two. "There are different ways to open it. Braking 66 seals, four rings of the horsemen and something with heaven's weapons. But all those, _open_ the Cage from here and we don't want that for several obvious reasons. We want to find it inside of Hell, am I right?"

Sam looked at Dean for confirmation.

"Go on," Dean said.

"So, we know the Cage can be opened from many different places, but we also learned from the apocalypse that the Cage's real location is under St. Mary's Convent. The problem is, once again, we don't want to open it, but to approach it from the side."

"Right. So, we need a voluntary reaper to get us into Hell somewhere very close to St. Mary's Convent and then we have to find the Cage from there," Dean said as he put the pieces together. "Is that even possible? Is there a passage to Hell there?"

"Like Cas said, otherwise it's impossible to find the Cage. So that's all I can think of," Sam said as he shrugged his shoulders and took another gulp from his beer.

"Lucifer and Michael are angels," Castiel added. "If we are close enough to the Cage I might be able to hear them and find the way."

"Perfect!" Dean exclaimed. "So let's hit the road."

"We have to find a reaper first, remember? That should be interesting."

Dean let out a breath from his impatience.

"I will go now, but contact me when you have found this reaper. Adam Milligan has suffered enough down there and rescuing him seems to be God's wish as well. I am happy to be of any help."

"See you Cas," both brothers said simultaneously.

After that, the angel was gone.

Dean nodded at the empty bottles that were on the table.

"Can you take that? I think I'm going to take a shower," Dean said.

"Sure," Sam answered. "I will try to come up with something about the reaper thing. See you tomorrow."

Dean gave his brother a soft smile and then left the library. This had been a long day. A _very_ long day. So much stuff had happened and everything seemed a bit different now. He tried not to dwell on it, there was a limit of how much a person could worry. He looked down at his clothes. They were both dirty and bloody, from his earlier fight and his sudden nosebleed. They were also torn in some places and had holes. Damit it. His jacket was okay, but he had to throw away his T-shirt and jeans. Dean was really tired. After his shower, he would go to bed and try to get some sleep. After all, there would be plenty of things to do tomorrow.

XXXXX

In this line of work, being hunters, Sam thought of surprises as a natural thing. Today was different though. Dean had met God, lost the Mark of Cain and now they were going to rescue Adam from Lucifer's Cage, for crying out loud. Not even in his wildest imaginations could he have guessed this would ever happen. They had to do this step-by-step. First, this thing with the reaper. Sam had come up with a plan, but he was sure that Dean would not like it...

* * *

_AN: Thank you for reading and please leave a comment to let me know if you are enjoying this fic. It motivates me to keep writing :)  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: Sorry, I have been really busy. Thank you for your reviews, I really appreciate it._

* * *

**6: Dealing With Reapers  
**

The next morning was, like usually, a routine. Both Winchesters took a shower, got dressed and met up in the kitchen for breakfast. There was no chit-chat or smalltalk, both made their own sandwiches or cereals without saying a word. Then they sat down around one table. It was only then that they began to talk, about work anyway.

Dean was in a rather good mood, despite the circumstances. He thought that it would be a lot harder for him to fall asleep since his head was full of thoughts and worries. Luckily, all the events from yesterday had drained the energy out of him and he had slept like a baby. Sam on the other hand looked tired, he had circles under his eyes and kept yawing.

"Didn't sleep well?" Dean couldn't resist asking.

Sam didn't even answer because it was rather obvious that he in fact had not slept well. Instead, he rubbed his eyes and looked up at his brother.

"I've come up with a plan to find us a reaper," he started slowly.

"That's great," Dean said with mouth full of food. "What is it?"

Sam twisted in his chair, feeling a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"It's actually really simple... We find someone... Who is about to die, set a reaper trap around him and... wait for the reaper."

Sam's gaze fell to his plate and he started to eat his cereals at a faster pace. A short sarcastic laugh escaped from Dean.

"You mean," Dean clarified. "We find a poor bastard who is dying and make his reaper powerless, making an innocent guy suffer even longer in his last moments so we can get some information from the reaper?"

Sam put down his spoon with a thump and let out an irritated huff.

"I never said it was virtuous," he tried to defend himself. "I mean, we can find a... A bad guy, a criminal... Look, I know it's not fair, but... We don't have anything else and it's only for a moment."

"Fine, fine, not judging. I don't have a better idea myself. So who is our lucky man?"

Sam stood up from the table and left to get something. When he was back he had a bunch of papers in his hand, which he handed over to Dean. The older tried not to let out an annoyed grunt.

"I stayed up last night researching," Sam said. "There is a hospital a couple of hours from here. They have two patients that could be in our interest. One man, age 67 who raped two sisters and was released from prison three years ago. He had a car accident and the doctors are barely keeping him alive. The other is a woman of age 75 who kidnaped, tortured and murder a little boy that was five years old. She was released eight years ago and was caught in a fire, lying on her deathbed too it seems."

Dean nodded his head, really impressed by Sam's homework. It also explained why he was so tired.

"The hospital is very short on staff," the younger brother continued. "So I figured that we get some false documents and one of us works during the day and the other takes the night shift. Then, we can keep an eye on our target practically the whole time."

"Wait, so it will be like work on top of work? That's..." Dean made a grimace. "That's a lot of work, man."

Sam rolled his eyes and snapped the papers out of Dean's hand.

"But working with nurses can't be too bad..." Dean said as he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling with a mischievous look on his face. "I want the day shift."

Sam opened his mouth in disbelief.

"I planned this whole thing! You are taking the night shift!"

"I need my beauty sleep!"

They glared at each other.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Dean asked and couldn't help but smile widely from ear to ear.

Sam shook his head.

"No, fine. I can take the night shift," he said in a low voice and turned his back to get something from the kitchen.

Dean sighed. Why couldn't it be like the old days? Why couldn't Sam just be Sammy? It was only work, work, work. Dean grunted. Now that they would be in the hospital it would be even more work... Oh God.

XXXXX

The next few days might have seemed boring to anyone else, but once again it was a routine for the Winchester boys. They could, for the time being, forget about their God-problem and look at this as a normal hunt. This was stuff that they were used to and knew how to handle.

They would pack their things and drive to where Sam had found the hospital. Then they would check into a motel not far from there. While Sam was out fixing their documents, Dean would go to a bar drinking.

After that, they got their interviews at the hospital and both got the job. It wasn't even something to be nervous about. The hospital really needed people and the Nursing profession was dominated with females so males were welcomed with open arms.

Then came the hard thing. Dean had no idea that nursing could be that exhausting. They did a lot of different things and had a really tight schedule. After a whole day, you were done for. Well, not completely. There was room for a date or two with a nurse on Dean's part. There were of course some incidents at the hospital where Sam or Dean got things wrong, but for the most part they played their parts well. No one suspected anything.

As for the reaper they were hunting... The Winchesters decided to paint a trap in both the man's and the woman's room. They wanted this to be dealt with as soon as possible. Since the rooms in the hospital were almost empty and to not raise any suspicion they painted the reaper traps on the ceiling with invisible ink. Now they just had to wait for the guest of honor to visit.

XXXXX

At first, nothing seemed to happen in the next couple of days. The man's condition got a little worse, but no sign of a reaper. The woman actually got a little better. The brothers really had to control themselves to not get upset over this. If they got better, it was good right? Even if it messed with their hunt.

Sam had gotten second thoughts at this point. He had remembered his own suffering in Hell and could not imagine in what state Adam was in. He had suggested to Dean that they gave this up and asked Death for help. Dean had declined. He said that Death creeped him out and could basically reap them any second. Plus, Dean had once asked for his help and Death had agreed to only help one out from the Cage. So the Winchesters stuck with the plan.

It was 3 o'clock in the middle of the night and it was Sam's shift. He was just passing through the corridor when he saw a man in a black suit standing in one of the hospital rooms. It was the room belonging to the man with the car accident.

'Gotcha,' Sam thought as he picked up his phone and called Dean.

_"Ym, wh-you-wan?"_ Dean's voice was hoarse and unclear.

"Come, we got him. He is with the guy," Sam whispered. "And destroy the trap in the woman's room on your way. If you can, get Cas. See you soon. Hurry."

Sam hung up and took a look around. There was no one around, except for him. He was quite lucky that there were not many people working the night shift. Sam sneaked into the dying man's room, locked the door and shut the drapes. He then turned around to face the reaper.

"I'm sorry, but the visiting hours are over," Sam said and regretted the words as soon as he said them. It was more of a comment that Dean would say. He didn't like that the older influenced him so much some times.

"I guess you are the one who..." The reaper said and gestured around him. He couldn't move. His voice was shaky. It looked like he had never dealt with a situation like this before. "I don't understand why. I'm just here to do my job... What do you want?"

Sam was about to answer, but heard the sound of flapping wings and felt a tiny breeze.

"Dean is on his way," Casitel said and eyed the reaper in front of him. "So this is him?"

"No," Sam said. "But, this one will lead us to our man."

Sam faced the reaper again.

"I really don't want to interrupt you with your work so I will make this very quick," Sam said. "We are looking for a reaper who makes deals, any types of deals really. Like transporting souls or that alike from and to Hell for example. This can be done really easily, just tell us a name and where we can find such a guy. Then, we release you and you can go back to what you normally do."

The reaper's eyes wavered between Sam and Castiel. He swallowed and answered them very carefully.

"I don't know anyone like that. We are not supposed to make any deals of any kind, just our work. I'm sorry to not be of any help, please just realise me."

Sam tilted his head to one side and sighed. The hard way it is. He reached out his arm towards Cas. Understanding what Sam wanted, the angel put his angel blade in Sam's hand. After that, Sam took a few steps closer to the reaper.

"We need a name and a place."

"Please, I don't know..." The reaper's eyes didn't leave the angel blade in Sam's hand.

This was so easy that it was ridiculous. The reaper was so frightened he could barely contain himself. Sam almost felt sorry for him.

"Then I guess we don't need your help," Sam said nonchalantly and swung the blade towards the reaper.

"No-stop!" The reaper screamed and Sam stopped midway. Obviously, he had no intention of hurting the reaper, but he didn't have to know that.

The reaper took a few heavy breaths, before he looked Sam in the eyes.

"I knew someone once," he started. "Like a few others he left and started his own business. I have heard he goes by the name Greg and does almost every request, but that's all I know. I swear."

Sam twisted the blade in his hand.

"I think you should know something about where an old friend lives."

"He was not a frie-" Of course Sam had seen right through him. The reaper sighed in defeat. "I have not had any contact with him for a long time because I disapprove of what he is doing. Last I heard, he was working in a small casino a couple of towns from here."

Sam smiled and gave Castiel his blade back. Then he turned to the reaper again.

"Well, thank you for your co-operation and sorry to interrupt you during work. We will be off now, just one last thing. Where is the exact location of the casino?"

XXXXX

Dean almost ran though the corridor and saw Sam going out of the room, closing it gently. When he was in front of his brother he caught his breath before speaking.

"Sam, wh-"

"Everything is fine, I got our next location. Did you undo the trap in the woman's room?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, wh-"

"Cas left for now, but said to contact him when we find the other reaper. Let's go."

With those words Sam just started walking away towards the exit. Dean spun around, a little bit confused, but then hurried up and followed Sam.

"Wait!"

XXXXX

They didn't waste any time and hit the road immediately after leaving a message to the hospital that they were quitting their jobs. They got their stuff from the motel and drove to the casino. Once again, the faster this would be sorted out, the better.

Sam and Dean traveled peacefully. They drove through some towns, stopped for gas and something to eat, then continued. Dean sped up as much as he could, so it only took them a couple of hours.

"You want to check into a motel first or what?" Sam asked when they finally reached the right town.

"No, we have wasted enough time as it is. Let's just go straight to our guy. Where was it again?"

"Next, turn right."

Dean did as Sam said and followed his further directions. Then they stopped in front of a high building, built with bricks. The casino.

"Let's get this over with," Dean muttered as he stepped out of the car.

The Winchester brothers walked into the casino and took a look around. There were not that many people, but still a few. There was a small bar at one side, then there were slot machines, black jack tables and some pool tables. If they would not be on a job, Dean could really see himself have a good time here.

The brothers walked over to the bar and Dean leaned on the counter facing the bartender.

"We are looking for someone," he said with a smile.

"Everyone is looking for someone," the bartender answered without looking up and filled two glasses with beer for other customers.

Dean let out a heavy sigh, he looked annoyingly at Sam as he took out his wallet and put some money on the counter.

"The name is Greg."

The bartender smiled, looked up and took the money.

"That would be the nice lad over there," he answered while pointing at a man playing pool.

Sam and Dean nodded to the bartender in thanks and made their way to the man wearing black jeans, white T-shirt and a dark grey jacket. When they reached the pool table Greg looked up with a surprised expression on his face.

"Can... I help you with anything?" He asked.

"Yes, we would need your... special skills, Greg." Sam said and hoped the reaper would get what he meant.

Greg's face lit up, he knew exactly what Sam meant.

"Well, this way please, let's talk somewhere more private."

XXXXX

They were led into a small room that looked almost as an office, but more shabby. Greg took a seat behind the desk.

"What can I help you two with?" He smiled.

Dean and Sam looked at each other. This was it.

"Right, we need transport to Hell." Sam said, it was best to cut straight to the chase.

"Near St. Mary's Convent in Ilchester, Maryland. Can you do that?" Dean added.

Greg looked at them a little bit suspiciously and thought for a second.

"That's very specific."

"Can you or not?" Sam hissed.

"Yes, I can." The reaper leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Who or what do I transport?"

"Us two and an angel," Dean informed while pointing at himself and his brother.

Greg started to laugh hysterically. Sam and Dean raised their eyebrows. When the reaper noticed their confusion, he stopped.

"Transport _two_ mortals _and_ an_ angel_? This is some kind of joke, right?"

"Dead serious. All three need to go," Dean stated blankly.

Greg's mouth hanged open.

"Well, that's impossible. No one will do such a thing."

"That's why we came to you," Sam added.

A small smirk found its way on the reaper's lips. He clapped his hands together.

"That will be very expensive."

Sam and Dean held a breath. They had been preparing for this.

"Name the price," Dean said without showing any sign of concern.

"The obvious would be to ask for a Winchester soul..." Greg started. "Many clients would fancy that..."

So, he knew who they were. Crap. Of course he would know... Everyone seemed to know these days. Sam clenched his fists.

"But," The reaper continued. "I have heard that when it comes to the two of you, one seems to always get the short straw. And I happen to like myself, don't want to end up dead anytime soon."

Dean rolled his eyes. This could go on forever.

"What do you want?"

Greg smiled at their impatience, but was serious when he spoke again.

"I want an angel blade," He said while staring at them intensely. "A weapon that can kill a demon, hellhound, angel, reaper... I could still keep my business running and have something powerful to defend myself with."

The brothers were quite for a second.

"Done," Dean said with confidence.

Sam looked at Dean with hesitation and the older shrugged his shoulders softly, careful so that Greg would not notice. They would have to ask Cas to help them with the payment. For now, they needed this deal to de done. Greg smiled brightly, showing his teeth.

"Pleasure doing business with you," He said as he stood up and shook their hands. "I will begin with the preparations for your little journey right away."


	7. Chapter 7

_AN: Thanks everyone for all kinds of support and here is the new chapter. If you feel like it, leave a review when you have finished reading. I'm always eager to hear your thoughts. Enjoy!_

* * *

**7: Here We Go Again  
**

They had exchanged numbers with Greg and checked into a motel. Then they had tried to come in contact with Castiel several times. They knew he had a lot to do right now, with this whole angel situation and all, but it never took him so long to come.

"You think something happened to him?" Sam asked a bit nervously.

Dean shook his head with confidence, refusing to even think that something might have happened to their angel.

"Cas," he prayed aloud with a bit of anxiety in his voice. "Damn it Cas, you okey? Come here."

They waited for a couple of seconds, and after hearing a very familiar sound, relief washed over them. Castiel was now with them and was standing in the middle of the room.

"Sorry that I'm late. I was in the middle of something," he said apologetically. "Have you found the reaper?"

Sam looked away and Dean made a guilty grimace towards the angel.

"Yeah, we sort of already met him and made a deal..." The older Winchester said as he shrugged his shoulders and smiled innocently.

"What?" Castiel asked in anger.

"Well, we know you have a lot on your mind right now so we just figured that we didn't have to burden you with this and do it ourselves instead." Sam said gently.

"It was nothing major so we could do it without your help," Dean added.

Castiel shook his head in disapproval and let out an irritated breath that he apparently had been holding. The angel closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. What was done, was done.

"Did the reaper agree to help us with our journey?" He asked instead of further arguing with the brothers about why they had not contacted him before meeting the reaper.

"Yes," Sam answered.

"What did he want in return?"

"About that," Dean said and pointed at Cas. "He wants an angel blade."

Castiel bit his lower lip.

"Did you agree?" He asked with patience.

"Well yeah, we figured that-"

Castiel rolled his eyes and ran a hand down his face.

"Sam, Dean..." He looked at them with a serious expression on his face. "An angel blade is a very powerful weapon, it should not be in the hands of someone we don't know!"

The Winchesters sighed.

"We know Cas..." Dean looked up at the angel, eyes filled with sorrow. "But... It's Adam."

Castiel stared into those green eyes that didn't leave his for a second.

"This is a bad time to be asking me for weapons. Me and my forces need everything we got."

Dean's eyes left the angel and his gaze dropped to the ground. Castiel clenched one fist.

"Oh, fine! I will get an additional blade for you."

Dean smirked and Sam smiled.

"Thanks man, you're the boss!" Dean winked at him and made a thumbs up.

Castiel sighed. He now wondered if associating himself with the Winchesters had really been the best choice in his life. Unfortunately, Cas couldn't help but smile when he saw the brothers' genuine joy. What had he gotten himself into? That was a question he should have asked himself a long time ago.

XXXXX

While waiting for Greg to contact them, Sam and Dean drove towards St. Mary's Convent in Ilchester, Maryland. Castiel went to take care of his own business and would arrive only after the brothers had heard anything from the reaper.

When the Winchesters had arrived at the right spot, they spent the rest of their waiting time in another motel. The nerves were almost eating them up, but they did not confess this to each other. Would they succeed on their journey? Would they find the Cage? Could they take Adam out? Would everyone make it out alive? Neither Sam nor Dean said a thing, but both knew there were too many damn obstacles along the way.

One could think that going to Hell with God's necklace or whatever, would make you feel safer. It was the complete opposite. They didn't know much about it and for all they knew, it could destroy the whole journey.

So, in short version, the next two days were pretty intense and had the brothers on the edge of their seat. Finally, just when they thought that they could not wait any longer, Dean got a text message from Greg. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened it. They got a time and a place.

"Sam. Call Cas," Dean said and put his phone back in his pocket. "Time to go."

XXXXX

After the angel's arrival, they took the Impala and drove to the convent. Castiel could take them, but they wanted to save as much of the angel's mojo as possible. They sure as hell knew that they would need it later.

Dean complained some on the way. His baby had a bumpy ride and had to drive through some rough territories. Nothing they had never done before. When they got there, they were surprised to see that there was nothing there. It shouldn't actually be a surprise, the chapel was probably destroyed when Lucifer was released. Not that it mattered anyway, it was not the convent itself, but the ground it had once stood upon that was the Cage's location.

As they kept driving they saw a small figure that was Greg. He was waiting for them and looked a bit anxious. This was the first time Castiel saw their reaper.

"He looks a bit suspicious," he said from the backseat of the car.

"Well, try to be nice. The guy is pretty important right now," Dean answered without looking at the angel.

Castiel glared at Dean, but didn't say anything more. The oldest Winchester stopped the car in front of the reaper and everybody got out in the fresh air. It was afternoon and the sky was filled with grey clouds that contributed to a gloomy atmosphere. It was windy which made the air a bit chilly and it had rained earlier that day, so the grass was wet.

"How you doing?" Dean nodded to the reaper and winked. Someone had to cheer everyone up on this utterly boring day.

The reaper didn't even bother to answer. He had been so confident with himself during the meeting and didn't seem to care that much for anything. Right now, he cared. Greg was really focused on the task at hand and was almost nervous about the whole thing.

"We don't have much time," He said in a serious tone. "Let's get a move on."

He started to walk in a fast pace and the trio followed. Now and then the reaper would quickly look back at Castiel, as if he was afraid the angel was going to backstab him or something. They kept walking for a good amount of time. Castiel sighed.

"I should tell you," the angel whispered to the Winchesters. "I don't know how it will look inside. It can be either similar or completely different from your memories of Hell. It's hard to tell."

The Winchesters just nodded.

"We just have to wait and see," Sam half joked, but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

They made it to a small forest or at least a place with a lot of trees, when Greg finally stopped.

"We are here," he said and carved up his sleeve to look at a watch he had around his wrist. "I have already prepared everything. A portal will open here in two minutes. Now, give me the angel blade."

Castiel tensed up while Sam and Dean broke into laughter.

"Yeah, right. So you can just leave us to rot in Hell?" Dean smiled while he crossed his arms.

"Not a chance," Sam said as he shook his head.

Greg looked puzzled.

"So, what?" He said angrily. "I take you in and out, and_ then_ you give it to me? Who says you won't just use it on me?"

The reaper had a point. What he said _would_ be a perfect scenario for them. Cruel, but perfect.

"How about this?" Sam suggested. "You take us to Hell. Then you come for us, we give you the blade_ in_ Hell and we all go back together?"

It was a bit risky for both sides, but the most fair agreement. Greg didn't look too pleased. He didn't like the idea of going to Hell himself, but he nodded. Then there was a blue light and the portal arrived, about ten feet before them.

"Alright," the reaper said. "When you are going back, meet me at the exact same spot you arrived at. You will have three hours in Hell, I can't give you more. I will wait by the portal, but not for long. Try to do whatever you are going to do as discreet as possible. Good luck."

They nodded to show that they understood the instructions. The trio took a deep breath and tried to calm themselves. Then, with rapid steps, Castiel took the lead and went in through the portal first. Sam and Dean were right behind him.

XXXXX

When they stepped into Hell, they had expected a lot of things, but not what they actually saw. As soon as all three had gone through the portal, it closed right behind them. They took a look around.

It was like they were in a desert. It didn't matter where you looked, there was only sand, with no end. Well, almost. Apart from the sand, the place was filled with burning flames. It was a bit ironic, yes, but this time it was actually crucial. In this desert-like-place, there was no sun, moon or stars above them. The only thing that lit up the surroundings were the flames. Even with the flames, it was rather dark.

You would imagine this place to be burning hot because of all the fire, but it was not. It was almost a bit cold instead. It was weird.

Something else that stood out was how quite it was. There was no sound of any living or dead thing apart from the two brothers and the angel. No sound of wind, or even the crackling sound from the fire. Nothing. It sent chills down the brothers' spines. It was creepy. It felt like this part of Hell was abandoned or something.

"Let's go," Dean requested. "The faster we do this, the better."

"Don't touch the flames," Castiel warned. "Either of you."

"Didn't plan to Cas," Sam commented.

"Yeah, you kind of learn that as a kid." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Very well," Castiel said, but didn't sound relieved.

"Which way?" Sam asked.

Castiel closed his eyes and concentrated on finding Lucifer and Michael to be able to locate the Cage. After a couple of seconds, he opened his eyes and nodded towards a direction. Cas took the lead again, Sam followed second and Dean third.

They kept walking through the desert and it almost felt like walking in a labyrinth because they had to avoid the fire. It was a long walk and no matter where they went, everything looked the same. Fire and sand. Sam was worried that they might not make it in time. How far away was the Cage? He didn't want to ask Castiel, the angel seemed so focused on his task and interrupting him might only end up in them losing their lead.

Sam sighed quietly and glanced over at Dean to see his brother doing something very stupid, without knowing it.

"Watch out!" Sam shouted.

Dean's right hand slightly grazed a flame beside him. His eyes widened and he fell on his knees to the ground. He buried his hands in his hair and banged his head down in the sand, screaming. Sam and Castiel were quickly beside him. Castiel tried to calm the older brother while Sam looked for any burns, but there were none. After a few seconds, Dean had finally calmed down and looked up at them apologetically.

They were in a desert with only two things, sand that they were walking on and fire surrounding them. They had gotten one instruction: Don't touch the fire. Easy, right? Yet, Dean had managed to do it. It was different here. You could only rely on your eyes. You didn't feel the warmth from the fire nor hear the crackling from it. It was everywhere around you, so it really wasn't _that_ easy to not accidently touch it. Yet, Dean felt guilty. He should have been more careful.

Dean inhaled slowly and tried to make his hands stop shaking.

"That was... It-"

"Yes," Castiel interrupted. "When a human soul is tortured and turned into a demon, new flames are created. What you felt was what someone was thinking, feeling and experiencing in their worst agony."

Dean shook his head violently, trying to make the memories and feelings go away.

"So all this fire..." Sam said astonished as he looked around.

"Yes," Castiel said sadly. "Hell has existed for a long time, so you can-"

"We can do the math," Dean cut him off sharply.

Dean closed his eyes and clenched his fists. He couldn't make this one feeling go away... He had once tortured souls. He was positive that it was not long enough for them to turn into demons, but still. He had done it, contributed to some of the horrible pain. Maybe he deserved to feel what they felt. Maybe he _should_ touch this fire, maybe-

"Dean," Castiel said and his voice was sharp, but also filled with sympathy. "We don't have time for this. Do you want to rescue your brother or not?"

Of course Cas had seen right through him. The angel had such difficulties trying to understand humans, yet sometimes he just needed one look and it was like he could read Dean's mind. This was probably one thing where Castiel understood Dean better than Sam did. The angel had seen Dean in his absolute worst and then rescued him from it. It was not difficult to guess that he would feel guilty after touching a flame.

"Sorry," Dean said and stood up.

He brushed of the dirt from his clothes and then spat.

"I think I got sand in my mouth," he said with a distasteful look on his face.

"That is not sand," Castiel said and bit his cheek. "Those are human ashes."

Dean's eyes widened in horror and his mouth hanged open in shock. Then he started to spit everywhere.

"You - moron," Dean said to Cas between every time he spat. "Couldn't - you - say it - sooner?"

Castiel chuckled and Sam laughed out loud.

"It's not funny," Dean warned them. "It's fucking disgusting and creepy."

"No," the angel smiled. "It's actually really- Wait."

Castiel raised his hand to silence the brothers.

"Do you hear that?" He asked cautiously.

"What?" They asked at the same time.

All they had heard this whole time was only their own breathing, heartbeats and footsteps. Nothing else, but... Now that Castiel mentioned it. They _could_ hear something in the background.

"Hellhounds," Castiel stated in terror. "They must have followed our scent."

"What- How many?" Dean asked with worry in his voice.

Castiel listened.

"Ten, twenty? More? I don't know. A lot."

"Holy shit," Sam breathed.

"We have to go, NOW!"


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Thank you ncsupnatfan for your review!  
_

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**8: The Cage  
**

Dean was paralyzed. No matter how hard he tried, his body just wouldn't move. It was so stupid and so the wrong time. When he heard the multiple growls that hungered for a prey, he kept seeing flashes of his past. He kept replaying the scene where hellhounds tore his whole body apart to send him to Hell.

"Dean," Sam pleaded and pushed him forward.

It seemed that was what Dean needed. A push. He woke up from his little nightmare and nodded. They started to run and Castiel lead the way. It was not easy, not easy at all. Running in sand, correction, running in ashes was one thing. Trying to avoid the fire that was everywhere around you, was another.

The barking and growls from the hellhounds got louder which made the trio automatically run faster. As it was bound to happen at some point, Sam and Dean tried to go through a small path simultaneously and Dean accidently pushed Sam. He reached out, trying to catch his brother, but Sam fell right into the flames. Without a second thought, Castiel quickly dove down for the younger Winchester. He grabbed Sam and pulled him out. Sam gasped painfully for air, as if he had been suffocating and Castiel panted.

"That-" Sam breathed.

"I know," Dean cut him off with a sad smile. Touching the flames was no walk in the park.

It was a short recovery, but they had to continue again. Sam was still a bit disorientated, but Dean grabbed his arm and guided him as best he could.

"I can see the Cage," Castiel exclaimed. "We are near!"

Sam and Dean didn't see anything. Was this the angel's super eyesight or something? Could he see things that were a long distance away or what? But how could he then say that they were close? There was no time for questions. They had to simply trust their friend in the trench coat.

They kept running and felt how they eventually got sore muscles. Finally Castiel made an immediate stop, so that Dean and Sam bumped right into him. He didn't even seem to notice and only admired something in front of him. The problem was that there was nothing there.

"What are you doing, go!" Dean shouted angrily. This was such a waste of time.

Castiel turned around and looked with confusion at the other two.

"We are here, don't you-" The angel's eyebrows knitted close together in thought. "You can't see it."

"The Cage? It's here?" Sam asked.

Castiel bit his lip. This made things a bit difficult. Why couldn't they see it? Was it because God had created the Cage? And that it was meant to imprison the archangel Lucifer? That could be a solid reason to why only Castiel, an angel, could see it.

Sam and Dean found this irritating. They wanted to ask Cas what it looked like. Was it made out of steel bars? Or was it just a big iron room? Or was it something disgusting, like made out of flesh and bones? Whatever it was, they didn't have time. Once again, they were just so damn lucky they had Castiel with them.

"Just guide me to it," Dean said and grabbed his necklace, holding the amulet between his thumb and index finger.

Castiel stood behind Dean, grabbed his shoulders and lead him forward. Dean stretched out his arm forth as much as he could. After taking a few steps, Dean felt like the amulet had collided with something in front of him, but he couldn't see what.

"That's it, it has touched the Cage." Castiel let go of Dean.

There was a light that came from a spot in front of, or beside the amulet, where it was supposed to touch the Cage.

"It's coming from the Cage," Castiel explained. "I think it's working."

Dean tried to let go of the necklace and surprisingly it stayed in the air, or glued to the Cage that he didn't see.

"It will probably detach itself when the extraction is over. I will buy you some time," Castiel turned his back and took out two angel blades from within his coat.

He held each in one hand and was ready for battle.

"Wh- Are you going to fight them by yourself?" Sam exclaimed.

Castiel smiled at Sam's worry. Cas had the best chance of fighting against the hellhounds. Dean had to stay put beside the Cage, until they got Adam out. Sam would have to guard his brother, since that one couldn't move.

"I will try to hold them off, Dean, focus on the necklace, and Sam, guard Dean so that no hellhound will attack. If one would approach the two of you, tell me."

After those words Castiel walked past Sam and positioned himself at the front, waiting for the gang of the hungry hellhounds. There was a good distance between him and Sam together with Dean beside the Cage. They held their breath and heard how the barking got even louder. There was the sound of stomping paws and Sam could swear that the ground was shaking a bit. Then the hellhounds were there.

XXXXX

Castiel was amazing, to say the least. The Winchesters had seen him in action several times, but this time was another deal entirely. He was overpowered by numbers and had to go all out. Being a soldier, like he had stated in the past, really shone through this time.

Castiel was jumping around with stunning speed all over the place. He was slicing, cutting and stabbing with his blades. The barks would change into squeaks and cries of pain as he killed one by one. But, there were many. A few of the hellhounds got their claws on Cas and would scratch him or bite deep into his skin. Then you would hear Castiel moan in complaint, but he kept fighting.

As soon as a hound slipped through his grasp and got close to Sam and Dean, Castiel would throw himself at it without a second thought. Then he would go back to the rest of the pack and keep them in place.

Sam watched this with a few tears in his eyes. It was a painful scene to witness, without being able to help. His hand was sweaty, but he held his demon-killing-knife that he got once from Ruby, tight in his hand. If it would come to it, he would fight.

"No." Sam suddenly heard Dean say from behind, but couldn't turn around to face him.

He kept his eyes at Castiel, who at the moment was overthrown by several hounds. Sam couldn't let his eyes leave this sight, he had to watch to know if he would need to take action. Still, his brother's struggle worried him.

"What is it Dean?" He called back, eyes and ears still focused on the hellhounds in front of them.

"The necklace, it won't-"

Dean never finished that sentence, but the younger could hear a gasp of surprise and horror from his brother. What was it? Did something go wrong?

"Sam!"

That was too familiar. The way Dean had just called his name... Sam had only heard that scream when there was grave danger. His brother sounded terrified, lost even. Sam didn't have to think twice about his next move, he spun around quickly and felt like as if someone had punched him straight in the gut. There, standing beside his brother, was Lucifer himself.

He was in his former vessel, Nick or something, wearing jeans and a beige T-shirt. His eyes were dead and staring at them just like a shark. He had a pleased smile on his face. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck which made Dean stumble nervously backwards, away from the devil that was so nastily close to him. Sam was almost shaking from fear mixed with disbelief.

"Well, this saves me a lot of time." Lucifer smiled, a gentle smile that sent chills down the brothers' spine. "I was going to look for you Sam, as soon as I finally got out of this prison. But, you spared me the trouble by coming here yourself. Really nice of you, I knew we could get along."

Sam lost all words. He couldn't speak. Dean was in the same state. Even if he always could come up with a snarky comment, now was different. Holding on to his last hope, Sam's eyes quickly managed to look over at Cas, but he was occupied. He had his hands full. He was lying on the floor, fighting for dear life and probably didn't even notice their new visitor. Damn. Sam's eyes went back to Lucifer and Dean.

"I did _not_ enjoy you throwing us into the Cage," Lucifer said to Sam and made a sad grimace. "Bad move. But that would have never happened if your sweet brother didn't come and talk to you, right? He ruined everything for us, don't you think?"

Lucifer's eyes went from Sam to Dean and the older swallowed in fear. Having Lucifer stare at you could be described as him skinning you alive with his eyes. He looked at Dean as if he was a piece of meat. You just had no idea, what was going on in that head of his. Dean broke the eye contact and looked over at Sam for a second. His eyes said everything. What the hell were they going to do? What-?

Then there was an extremely unpleasant sound, where with one move, Lucifer had pierced his whole arm through Dean's chest. Dean's eyes widened in shock, he opened his mouth to finally say something, but only coughed up blood. Lucifer smiled at him and then removed his arm, leaving Dean with a gory hole right through him. Dean took a shaky hand to his wound, but that's all he could do before he collapsed to the ground, headfirst.

It had all happened in a matter of seconds. Sam's body froze, he couldn't think, couldn't breathe. He was ice cold and his vision blurry because tears were gathering in his eyes. Then he slowly started to tremble.

"I guess we can call it even now," Lucifer said as he looked down on Dean lying in his own pool of blood that kept increasing at a fast rate.

There was too much blood. Way too much blood, Sam realized in horror. Lucifer wiped his messy arm that was covered in Dean's blood and bits of flesh on his jeans. He had a distasteful expression on his face, as if it disgusted him. He then sighed and kicked Dean's body very lightly with his foot, but the Winchester didn't move and there came no sound from him. Not even the smallest whisper. There was nothing. Tears began to run down Sam's cheeks.

"Well, that's that," the devil said and shrugged his shoulders.

Sam fell to his knees, he dropped his knife and hyperventilated to get even the smallest amount of air into his lungs, which his cries prevented him from. He buried his fingers in his hair, nails piercing into his skull. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't true. It-was-not-true. Lucifer looked at Sam with a casual expression and when he saw in what state the younger Winchester was in, he smirked.

"N-n-no..." Sam breathed.

He couldn't process what had happened. It was too fast. There was no way that it just took a couple of seconds for Lucifer to ki... To... Sam shook his head several times and then pulled his hair as hard as he could. No... No...

"Yes," Lucifer whispered.

Sam couldn't even hear him. He just stared at his brother's body that was lying so still at the devil's feet.

"DEAN!" Sam cried out in agony at the top of his lungs.


	9. Chapter 9

_AN: I got a lot to do, so sometimes it can take a while to update. __Thank you for your patience and support :)_

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**9: Deluded**

All the chaos surrounding them was making him uneasy. Finally, Dean saw that the light that was between the necklace and the cage was slowly fading away. He hoped this was a good sign, he had been waiting around while the necklace was hanging in the air for quite some time. Dean twisted around in his spot impatiently.

'Come on! Come on!' He thought to himself.

As if hearing his prayers, the extraction seemed to be over because the necklace finally seemed to let go of the invisible cage and landed on his chest again. They had Adam! For the first time since they came to Hell, Dean felt a tiny bit happy. This was when he heard the horrifying and loud scream coming from Sam. When Dean heard it, it felt like his blood ran cold. What was going on? Was Sam attacked by hellhounds? Were those beasts tearing his little brother apart? Or was Sam's scream a way of warning him that the hellhounds were just a second from jumping on Dean himself? Whatever it was, he expected the worst when he spun around quickly.

There was no such thing as hellhounds. Well, close to them at least. Castiel was still taking care of them and had them somehow under control. Sam... Sam was no pretty sight. He was on his knees and was sobbing. Dean's eyes scanned him for an injury, but he couldn't find any. This was very confusing to him.

"Sam, what is it?" He asked with obvious worry in his voice, hoping he would get some answers.

He approached his brother, but when he did that Sam inhaled rapidly and his eyes widened. They were filled with so much hate and sorrow.

"No!" Sam shouted.

Dean put his arms up in the air, showing that he had no evil intention.

"Sammy? What is wrong with you? We don't have time for this," He tried gently.

It pained Dean to see his brother so devastated and being so spiteful towards him. What had Dean missed? What had happened? He tried to take a few soft steps forward. Sam grabbed the demon-killing-knife from the ground and pointed it at Dean.

"No, stop it! Don't come any closer, you fucking bastard!"

Tears never stopped running down Sam's cheeks, his eyes were swollen red and he breathed heavily. Something seemed to be eating him from the inside, like a bad memory or something. Draining his energy completely and just leaving him in this poor state.

"Drop the knife, Sammy..."

It was like talking to a wall, he couldn't register what Dean was saying. Like he was in his own world. Sam let out another cry and then dropped his arms to his sides in defeat, but was still holding the knife in one hand.

"It's the cage!" Dean heard Castiel yell to him.

"What?" Dean asked.

He turned his head away from Sam and looked over at Castiel. The angel was still fighting the hounds, but had clearly noticed or heard Sam's weird behaviour too.

"Lucifer - Cage - Too close - Not real!" Castiel shouted as he was slashing the hellhounds.

This was when it hit Dean and he realized what was going on. Sam was hallucinating. Why didn't they think that this could happen? After being so close to the cage and all. Great... This was just what they needed right now.

"Sam, listen. It's me. _Dean_. Sam, listen to my voice, it's _me_."

No luck. Sam looked as terrible as before. He smashed his fist on the ground with anger and tried to stop his cries. Dean sighed. This was not going to work. He needed to do something before Sam got his shit together. As mean as it maybe was, Dean had to strike now when Sam was vulnerable and weak. He had the advantage of that Sam was broken and in no condition of fighting, but soon _the hunter_ would show himself. They did _not_ need a Winchester-fight right now... That's why Dean quickly ran up to him and knocked him into unconsciousness.

As Sam was lying on the ground, Dean wondered what possible hallucination could break his brother in that manner that quickly. With no time to speculate any further, he grabbed the knife and picked up Sam in his arms. Crap, he was really friggin' heavy!

"We can go Cas! I got the necklace and Sam! Let's get out of here!"

"You go first, I will follow! The same way!"

Cas didn't have to say that twice. Dean started to run as fast as the heavy Sam in his arms would let him. He ran past Cas and saw out of the corner of his eye that he only had four hounds left. Dean tried not to think about how badly hurt their angel was. He tried to avoid the damn fire and had to sometimes take it slow so that Sam would not touch it either. Then something strong hit Dean in the back, knocking him down and making him drop Sam. They both landed hard on the ground. He then saw their attacker, a hellhound, jumping on Sam and was just millimeters from sinking his teeth down into his brother's face.

"No! Leave him!"

Dean threw the demon knife and managed to hit his target. The hound yelped, then growled at Dean and was about to attack him when Castiel appeared and beheaded the damn dog.

"Just in time," Dean sighed with a smile.

The angel helped Dean up and then the Winchester picked up Sam again. Castiel stumbled on his own feet, but managed to keep his balance.

"Hey, don't tell me that I have to carry you too." Dean didn't even know if he had meant that as joke or not.

"There are more coming," Castiel answered in a weak voice. "We have to go to the portal. I don't think I can fight more of them."

Dean didn't argue that. Cas' clothes were torn to shreds. The trench coat was no more than maybe a T-shirt at this point. He was covered in blood from tip to toe, had several wounds, bruises, swellings and looked like he was going to pass out any minute. If it wasn't for that gleam in his eye, the fighting spirit, he probably would.

They started to run again. Sweaty, bloody and exhausted, but somehow they managed to keep going. Whenever Dean would turn the wrong way, Cas corrected him and they progressed forward. At last they reached their spot and Greg, the reaper, was already waiting for them.

"Finally," he said impatiently and looked stressed out. "Now give me the blade."

"Are you kidding me?" Dean breathed as he secured his grip on Sam. "Hellhounds are seconds from coming here, just get us out!"

"We had a deal." The reaper's voice was full of seriousness.

Castiel coughed up a little blood, then he gave the reaper one of his blades. The reaper scrunched up his nose when he saw that the blade was all covered in blood, but didn't complain. He got what he wanted. Castiel raised his own blade towards the reaper in a warning, showing him that they still had a weapon that could kill him.

Then there was the sound of barking and growls again which gave Dean goosebumps.

"You got it! Now, get us out!" The Winchester shouted to the reaper.

Greg looked back and forth between Cas and Dean, showing that he had originally indeed planned to trick them. However, the gravity of the situation seemed to have changed his mind. Maybe it was better not to be on the Winchesters' and angel's wanted dead or alive list.

"Fine," he spat.

He began to move quickly and they were right on his heels. Just around the corner of a big flame, there was the portal. The reaper stepped in first, Dean followed with Sam in his arms and Castiel was shortly after. Finally, they had left the horrible place.

XXXXX

Going to the other side of the portal was like a dream come true. They could feel a chilly wind on their faces and breathe in the fresh air. Instead of furious beasts, they heard the songs from some birds in the distance. Instead of ashes everywhere, they had soft grass beneath them. Instead of being surrounded by flames, there were beautiful trees and bushes. Then there was the welcomed smell of nature. Everything felt like home.

As soon as they were through the portal, the reaper made a run for it. He didn't want to be in the company of Winchesters and an angel any second longer than he had too. He quickly disappeared behind some trees.

"Just leave him be," Dean told Cas. "He got what he wanted... We got what we wanted... Let's just..."

Dean put down Sam on the ground and then lied down himself. He stretched out his muscles and let out a sigh of satisfaction. Castiel almost collapsed to the ground, he could finally rest! They didn't lay there for long when Sam started to wake up, his eyes flew open and he looked around himself in bewilderment.

"W-What the-?" He shouted. "What happened?"

"Welcome back," Dean said calmly with a smile.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Dean is referering to that you have regained consciousness," Castiel said and made a grimace because his body hurt when he talked.

"Yeah, and literally too because we _are_ back on Earth," Dean pointed out.

Castiel only smiled and Sam noticed the horrible state of the angel.

"Oh my god, Cas! Are you okey?"

"Yes, I just need some time to heal. How about you, Sam? Are you okey?"

Sam only nodded. Why wouldn't he be?

"When we were near the cage, you were hallucinating again, man." Dean looked at his brother with worry.

Sam suddenly remembered. His face expression changed, showed a bit of pain and sorrow again.

"I'm sorry Sam," Cas apologized. "I should have figured out beforehand that being so near the cage could effect your hallucinations with Lucifer... Good news is that I'm positive it was just there. You don't have to worry about them anymore."

"Yeah, I'm just..." Sam looked at Dean that was beside him, breathing and alive. It felt so reassuring. "I'm just relieved."

"What were you hallucinating about?" Dean asked.

"It doesn't matter," Sam smiled. "The important thing is that it was just a hallucination."

Then the trio just sat there silently, slowly regaining their strengths. Everything about that moment felt just right.

"What about Adam?" Dean broke the silence and looked over at Cas.

"Heaven is still closed and his soul is probably very damaged so for the time being I would suggest that he stays in your necklace."

"Hm..." Dean grabbed the amulet from his necklace and stared at it. Suddenly it started to glow. "Cas? Is Adam's soul coming out or what?"

The older Winchester looked nervously at the angel as the amulet started to glow stronger and stronger. Castiel looked at the necklace and his face became pale.

"Close your eyes!" He yelled to the brothers.

Without a second thought, they obeyed. The light was blinding bright. It shone stronger and stronger, then left the amulet and flew away into the distance. It was gone as fast as it had appeared.

"Is it okey now?" Sam wondered while he still covered his eyes with his hands.

"Y-yes..." Castiel breathed out.

"What on Earth was that, Cas?"

Castiel looked like he was in shock, his mouth hanged open in disbelief and his eyes just stared at the brothers.

"It... It was Michael."

"Michael?" Sam exclaimed.

They all got up from the ground. Michael? As in the archangel, Michael? Dean ran his hands through his hair.

"W-What - How - When - What?" There were too many questions in his head.

Castiel put his fingers to his temples and tried to make any sense of this, but couldn't.

"Wait, we made a deal to take _Adam_ out. Only Adam. Nothing was said about an extra ticket for some archangel dick," Dean said. "Wait... Did God just do this deal to get his favorite little feathery son of a bitch back? Did he just trick us?"

Castiel slowly shook his head. This couldn't be real.

"Cas?" Dean raised his voice.

Castiel didn't know what to believe. Had God, his father that finally showed a sign of being alive, really tricked them?

"Cas!" Dean shouted and lost his patience completely. He was furious.

"I-I don't know..." Cas mumbled weakly.

Dean's hands were trembling from anger. He just couldn't believe it. Everything was fine and now this shit happened! He walked over to the angel.

"What do you mean, you don't know? Huh?" He gave Cas a push on his shoulder when he saw that the angel was avoiding his gaze. "Cas! Come on! What the fuck is going on?"

"Stop being a dick, Dean." Sam interfered and grabbed Dean's arm to turn him around.

It was understandable to be a little bit emotional because of the situation, but Dean had to calm down. They needed to figure this out. When Dean looked at Sam, he was anything, but calm.

"Since when do you care about people, Sam?" He spat. "First Adam, now Cas. So touchy-feely."

Sam's mouth became a straight line. He knew exactly where this was going. For a long time now Dean had been holding all this in, building up all these emotions and decided that now was a good time to let it go. It was not.

"Don't start this," Sam simply warned.

"Yeah, that's very convenient for you isn't it? Since you decided this shit and didn't give a fuck about how I felt about it."

Dean's voice was full of venom, but there was also so much sorrow. Sam started to get angry too at this point, but God knew that he tried to keep his calm.

"We talked about this and I'm not having this conversation again. You were being selfish and you know it."

Dean bit his own fist in anger. His breathing rapidly increased and his eyes stung.

"Everything I have EVER done, MY ENTIRE LIFE, was for YOU!" He shouted.

"We had an agreement! You decided something for yourself and didn't give a shit about what I wanted!"

The brothers stared at each other in fury. There was a short silence and Castiel was just about to say something, but Dean spoke first.

"Fuck this," he said. Dean was sick of it. Fuck Sam. Fuck everything. He saved his life and got all that crap. Fuck it.

He turned his back and started to walk away, towards where he remembered the Impala was parked.

"Are you retarded?" Sam couldn't believe this. "Michael is free out there and will come for you, idiot! Are you just going to walk away now?"

Dean spun around.

"Walk away from what? My brother? You clearly said where you stand. Friends? I don't think so. We are hunters and the hunt is over, right? That's how you fucking wanted it!"

Sam bit his lip in irritation.

"Dean, stop acting like a kid." He growled. "Don't walk away."

"Well, you taught me how." Dean put on his fake smile.

Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"You know what? Fuck this! Just go then!"

Dean bowed sarcastically in thanks and then just left. Sam clenched his fists in anger while Castiel let out a breath he had been holding and buried his face hopelessly in his hands.


End file.
